March Reading Recap

[ufcasey]

What did you read in March? Have any ratings or recommendations?

[Vespasia]

March was a busy month for me! Recommendations in bold. 

A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance - 4*
The Echo Wife by Sarah Bailey - 4.5*
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - 5*
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman - 3.5* but only because I couldn't put it down
American Spy by Lauren Wilkerson - 4.5* The ending bumped it down from 5*

DNF:
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
My Enemy's Tears: The Witch of Northampton by Karen Williams (I only picked this up because it's about an ancestor of mine but the formatting on Kindle was horrible)

[meowmaps]

What Could Be Saved by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz 5*
Conditional Citizens by Laila Lalami 4*
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel 5*
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder 4*
When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichner 3-3.5*
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson 4*
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes 4*

[ufcasey]

I read a bunch of silly and/or smutty books this month, and I'm not ashamed of it haha! But my recommended books are in bold.

4.5 stars
Wild Sign (Alpha & Omega, #6) by Patricia Briggs
She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh

4 stars
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen
Your Dad Will Do by Katee Robert
Gifting Me To His Best Friend by Katee Robert

3.5 stars
The Captive by Grace Burrowes
Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, #4) by Jennifer Estep
Sacrifice (Bloodline Vampires #1) by Katee Robert
Heir (Bloodline Vampires #2) by Katee Robert

3 stars
The Postilion by Minerva Spencer
The Turncoat King by Michelle Diener

2.5 stars
Linesman by S.K. Dunstall

[rainbowchip]

It looks like I read a ton but I had 3 books that I mostly read in February but finished in the first few days of March.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillio - 3*
The Outsider by Stephen King - 5*
Lover Mine by J.R. Ward - reread
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn - 3*
Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan - 3*
American Royals by Katharine McGee - 5*
Majesty by Katharine McGee - 4*
Educated by Tara Westover - 3*
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - reread
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn - 3*

[mie]

I read a lot of meh books in March. The best of the bunch was Ghosted.

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon 3*
Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting 3*
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 3*
Mistletoe in Paradise by Jill Shalvis 3*
Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert 3.5*
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales 4*
Tempt Me (The Temptation #1) by Roxy Sloan 2*
Tease Me (The Temptation #2) by Roxy Sloane 1*
The Invitation (The Invitation #1) by Roxy Sloan 2*
Surrender (The Invitation #2) by Roxy Sloan 2*
Release (The Invitation #3) by Roxy Sloan 1*
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousins 3.5*
Ghosted by JM Darhower 4.5*
Sempre (Sempre #1) by JM Darhower 2*
Redemption (Sempre #2) by JM Darhower 2*
Made (Sempre #.4) by JM Darhower 3*
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli 3*
The Immortal Life of Heniretta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 4*
Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters #3) by Talia Hibbert 4*
Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella 1*
I'll Be the One by Lyle Lee 3*
The Duke Who Didn't (Wedgeford Trials #1) by Courtney Milan 3.5*
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London 2.5*

[travella]

Slow month for me. I only read two:

Troubled Blood, 3*
The Exiles, 4*

[rootbeerfloat]

The Duke and I (Bridgertons #1) by Julia Quinn - 3*
The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn - 3*
An Offer from A Gentleman (Bridgertons #3) by Julia Quinn - 3*
Anxious People by Frederik Backman - 5*
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - 4*

Anxious People is my favorite Backman book (also read Beartown, Us Against You, and A Man Called Ove).

[estrellita]

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - I loved it! It's a fantasy story about a young woman taken by "The Dragon" for mysterious reasons.

Unfuck Your Brain by Faith Harper - This was just ok. Basically a self help sort of book regarding depression, anxiety, trauma, anger, things like that. Some of the explanations were spot on, but the advice was lacking. I also felt the swearing was mostly forced and not "natural" which annoyed me. And the audio book quality was terrible.

Take a Hint Dani Brown - Cute. I liked it but didn't love it. Romance genre. I really liked the characters, but the story behind their relationship seemed far fetched.

[just]

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild - 3 stars
... Non-fiction about the Congo and the devastating Belgian influence. Written in a really interesting way, easy to read style if heavy content. I wish some of it was a little deeper.


Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi - 2 stars
... Fiction ... I didn't love the main character, but it was interesting since I visited Puna in the early 2000s


Clap when you land - Elizabeth Acevedo - 4 stars
... I LOVE Acevedo. I think she's one of the best YA authors in the mix at the moment. This was a great book with a wonderful narration on audiobook

Homeland Elegies by Ahad Akhtar - 4 stars
... A really interesting blend between reality and fiction. It kept me on my toes and reminded me a little of Rodham.

Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler - 1 star
... I've never given 1 star to a book before. I usually quit reading them but I kept reading for a plot resolution and hated every minute. 

The Survivors by Jane Harper - 4 stars
... Above average thriller set in Tasmania

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - 3 stars
... Unrelentingly depressing, with not much joy. I'm not a fan of Hannah anyway so this was a slog for me. I did find the historical setting interesting with the the dustbowl and california cotton riots

Cleanness by Garth Greenwall - 2 stars
... Very graphic sexually, which was difficult to enjoy. I never really related to the narrator. Interesting setting in Bulgaria - I've never read a book set there before.

[minzy]

It was a slow month for me. It looks like I only read Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.

[tacokick]

I didn’t feel like I read a lot in March but I guess I did?

Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong by Georgina Lawton

The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan

You Were Never Here by Kathleen Peacock

Inheriting by Edith Zoe Fishman

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio (bad)

Girl A by Abigail Dean (I liked it!)

Yolk by Mary HK Choi (my favorite of hers so far)

Good Girl, Bad Blood Holly Jackson (the first one was very cute and this one was flat)

Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South by Regina Bradley (lots of footnotes)

Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson with Michelle Burford (I really liked the parts about growing up in 1920s/30s NYC)

The Officer's Daughter: A Memoir of Family and Forgiveness by Elle Johnson

Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date by Katie Heaney

Would You Rather? A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out by Katie Heaney (the better of the two)


The Baltimore Atrocities: A Novel by John Dermot Woods

A Brief Lunacy by Cynthia Thayer

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Terribly Greedy Girl: A Memoir of Food, Family, Film & Fashion by Kay Plunkett-Hogge (a little uneven but interesting)

Lost You by Haylen Beck

Severance by Ling Ma

The Whispering House by Elizabeth Brooks

Shipped by Angie Hockman

The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous (the first half was fun then it devolved)

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York by Elizabeth Passarella (bad and sort of offensive)

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (liked a lot!)

American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser

Who is Maud Andrews? by Alexandra Andrews (kind of a mess)

Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu

[mrspez07]

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 4*
Roses by Leila Meacham 3*
Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein 4*
Beach Read by Emily Henry 3*

No audio books finished in March.
Probably Art of Racing in the Rain was the best, I liked feeling part of the character’s experiences in Witches.

I wouldn’t recommend Roses

[litskispeciality]

Slow month for me:

Nine Perfect Strangers 2.5* - surprising as I like the author

Before She Was Helen 3* - I have a question about the end if anyone has read this one

So behind 4/24 for the year.

[jwright]

I'm late but I like recording my reading here.

In March I finished:

Firefly Lane - 3*, I can't imagine the Netflix series would be good at all
Everything I Never Told You - 4*
Hidden valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family - 5*, nonfiction about a large family with multiple schizophrenic siblings
The Wife Upstairs - 4*
Before She Disappeared - 4*
The Officer's Daughter: A Memoir of Family and Forgiveness 3*